Get ready for Tory hopefuls to jettison HS2

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HS2 could hit the buffers. Over recent days, through the fog of Brexit, news has emerged that ministers might scrap the UK’s North-South super-train.

With speeds of up to 250mph, the proposed line from London to Birmingham, with extensions to Manchester and Leeds, has been billed as one of the world’s fastest. In reality, HS2 is a ridiculously expensive political vanity project, delivering few benefits.

Until recently, HS2 looked as if it would go ahead anyway due to ministerial inertia and the lobbying power of engineering conglomerates and property developers, plus broader metropolitan bias. Yet an unglamorous truth is dawning: the UK needs to address its national rail issues by investing not...